The Organization …IZ KRUGA -VOJVODINA held an online training Dealing with Women with Different Types of Disabilities Exposed to Violence for experts in the social protection area on November 29, 2021.
The training’s leaders were Ivana Zelic, a coordinator of the SOS service of …IZ KRUGA – VOJVODINA and Maja Popovic, Programme Associate at the Mental Disability Rights Initiative of Serbia (MDRI-S). The training was enrolled at Social Welfare Chamber as training without knowledge testing.
The participants were experts working in the system of social welfare and women’s non-governmental organizations that provide support via SOS helplines to women survivors of violence. The goal was to gain knowledge about the position of women with disabilities and improve the professional attitudes of participants in the treatment of women with disabilities who have experienced violence.
Ivana Zelic spoke about the concept of disability, types and models of disability, using inclusive disability terminology, violence against women with disabilities, principles in working with women with disabilities and guidelines for dealing in cases of violence against women with disabilities.
Maja Popovic spoke about the position of women with mental disabilities in residential institutions and protection mechanisms from violence in institutions.
During the training, participants discussed the reasons why women with disabilities remain in a situation of violence, the obstacles they face when deciding to report violence, the mechanisms of protection against the violence that women with mental disabilities can use in social care institutions and outside institutions and ways to provide accessible information to women with mental disabilities in institutions. They concluded that architectural barriers, lack of information in accessible formats, insufficient support from family and the environment are the main reasons why women with disabilities remain in a situation of violence.
Participants estimate that the training was significant for them, they improved their knowledge about the position of women with disabilities and got acquainted with the guidelines for dealing with cases of violence against women with disabilities. They suggested the training to be divided into several days in the future, in order to dedicate more time to the topics discussed, but also that the training should be held live because interactive work and participation of all participants is challenging when working online.
